Everyone has some form of the staph bacteria on their bodies.  No one can say there is a silver bullet in the market place that will eliminate the risk of your athlete contacting a staph infection.  According to the CDC web site; “Some settings have factors that make it easier for MRSA to be transmitted. 

These factors, referred to as the 5 C’s are as follows: Crowding, frequent skin-to-skin Contact, Compromised skin (i.e., cuts or abrasions), Contaminated items and surfaces, and lack of Cleanliness.” Due to the nature of the activities, an athlete will fall into all five factors and make them vulnerable to MRSA.   So the opportunity is always there for everyone to contact a staph infection.   To reduce that risk there are some common sense practices that can be followed.

First and foremost, personal hygiene is critical.  Wash hands, taking showers, not sharing towels are an absolute to controlling the bacteria that is already present on your skin.  Keeping open wounds clean and bandaged is very important.  Remember, the staph bacterium has to have an entry point to infect the individual.

Keeping your soft goods clean.  So often, athletes hang their practice jersey, pants, or socks in their lockers.  The smelly locker rooms that we all have been in are those clothes that need to be washed.  The smell we notice is the breeding ground for bacteria on our clothes.  When those clothes are used again and again before being washed, you are depositing more bacteria back onto your skin.  So the athlete could have perfect hygiene, yet the bacterium from the smelly jersey is redepositing those same bacteria back on to their skin. 

Keeping hard goods clean and disinfected.  Variety of sports uses protective equipment that can not be run thru the washing machine.  Helmets, shoulder pads, shoes, and shin guards to name just a few.  The padding can be a breeding ground for bacteria growth and typically are not treated thru out a season.  These hard goods should be dried after each practice or event and disinfected regularly.  We recommend using the Sports-O-Zone machine 4201A.  This process has a drying cycle to pull the moisture from the padding and then runs a 14 minute ozone cycle to disinfect.  Following a routine maintenance program will reduce the bacteria that would be present on the protective equipment.

So personal hygiene, keeping the practice clothes clean, and disinfecting the protective gear can give the best opportunity for your athlete to stay on the field.  None of these suggestions are a silver bullet, but used together significantly reduces your risk of contracting a staph infection.